It was near dawn when I finished. I kept yawning, and could barely keep my eyes open.
Unable to gather the energy to walk or teleport back to my room, I slept on their couch. Although it wasn’t completely because I couldn’t teleport to my room. It had been a while since I’d slept alone—minus when Sorcha was keeping me prisoner—and I felt safer with my parents close by.
The sun was already shining brightly through the windows when I awoke the next morning. I glanced at the clock on the mantle—2:04 PM.
My parents were nowhere to be found. So I sent my mom a fire message to let her know where I’d gone, and teleported to my bathroom to wash up.
After only being able to take baths in the Otherworld, a shower felt amazing. I must have stayed in the shower for an hour, at least. But my thoughts were stuck on Torrence’s last moments, and I kept playing out any other possible ways yesterday could have gone differently.
Where exactly had we gone wrong?
I didn’t know. Maybe I’d never know. All I could do was pray that Reed and the Supreme Mages were successful in their mission to get her back.
In the meantime, I needed to focus on the people who were counting on me. The half-bloods in the Otherworld. At least, the ones who’d survived the plague. I needed to free them, and then, I needed to get them the cure.
I needed to get all of the fae a cure. Yes, they had holy weapons to defend themselves and the domes I’d fortified to keep them safe, but it wasn’t enough. The longer I waited, the more of them would get infected.
Realizing that I was wasting time, I turned off the water and dried off. I’d expected the jeans and sweatshirt I’d picked out to feel comforting—like home. Instead, the material felt coarse in comparison to the soft dresses and cloaks of the Otherworld. So I switched to lightweight shorts and a tank top instead. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. More freeing.
A look in the mirror showed that my skin had retained the soft, smooth glow it had taken on when I’d entered the Otherworld. And while fae wings were always hidden on Earth, Avalon was technically on a separate plane, anchored to Earth. I successfully removed the glamour, revealing my tri-colored wings. They sparkled with magic and hummed with tiny currents of electricity.
Feeling more like myself, I removed the Holy Wand from the ether again (I’d shown it to my parents last night), and stared at my reflection, readying myself for everything to come.
Even though I was home, things would never be like they were before. I was no longer Selena Pearce, the powerless daughter of Queen Annika and Prince Jacen, who needed to remain on Avalon to stay safe.
I was the Queen of Wands, and the chosen champion of Jupiter.
It was going to take time to discover my new place on Avalon. But I was ready to start— today.
My parents sent a fire message to my room that they’d had a late lunch delivered to their quarters, and were ready to continue our discussion whenever I was. So I teleported back to the hall outside their door, knocked, and they let me back in.
The small table was set, and a platter of round white fruit—mana—and a pitcher of Holy Water sat in the center. It looked bland and boring compared to the lavish meals in the Otherworld.
Why do I keep thinking about the Otherworld as if I miss it there?
Maybe I needed to stop comparing it to Avalon, and appreciate each for what it was. After all, like Prince Devyn had always told me, I was half-fae. The Otherworld was part of me, whether I liked it or not.
My parents must have spent a solid five minutes complimenting and examining my wings. Then we sat down, and we each took a piece of mana, cut into it, and started to eat.
Mine tasted like the finger sandwiches from the delicious platter that Princess Ryanne had served me and Julian the first time we were guests in her villa.
Aunt Ryanne.
It was going to take a while to get used to that.
“Your father and I met with the Queen of Swords and debriefed her on what’s going on,” my mom started. “We all agree that the half-blood slaves in the Otherworld must be freed.”
“I didn’t realize it was up for debate.” I pressed my lips together, surprised at myself. Not because of what I’d said—it was the truth—but because of how easy it had been to talk back to my mom.
“Your decision to free them wasn’t up for debate,” she said. “As the Queen of Wands, it’s your responsibility to do as you must for your people. Just like I have to do what’s best for my people—the citizens of Avalon—and the Queen of Swords must do what’s best for the Nephilim army.”
“So you’re going to help me?”
“Usually, the interests of the Queens align,” she said, and my heart dropped with worry that she was going to say this was an exception to the rule. “And it’s in all of our best interests to free the half-bloods.”
My father took a sip of his water, then set down the glass. “We’ve been in a stalemate with the demons for over sixteen years,” he said. “We don’t know the extent of what Lilith is capable of, especially now that she has the dragon heart. And the longer the demons continue to work with the dark witch circles, the more dangerous they become. That was evident with the plague Lavinia created.”
I nodded, although there was no way for my parents to fully understand how devastating the plague was without seeing it for themselves.
“Like I mentioned last night, the free half-bloods have powerful magic,” I said. “They can help us against the demons.”
“We agree,” my mom said. “Especially because once the half-bloods are free, they’ll likely want the option to leave the realm that’s kept them oppressed for over a thousand years. I’m happy to open Avalon’s doors to any half-bloods who pass the island’s trials—and to any full fae who wish to join us, too.”
“Great.” I sat straighter, ready to move forward. “To launch the sort of large scale attack necessary to free an entire group of people and lead them to Avalon, we’re going to need portal tokens. Lots and lots of portal tokens. From there, we’ll need to defend ourselves against the fae while I free the half-bloods and bring them to the portal locations. I’m going to need the Queen of Swords’ help—and help from the Nephilim army—to pull this off. Should we bring her in and start discussing a plan?”
My parents gave each other a long look, and neither of them said a word.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
Had I said something wrong? I hoped not. It felt good to have a purpose again. To feel like I could do something to help people, instead of obsessing about what I could have done differently to get Torrence that staff.
My mom spoke first. “If we invade the Otherworld, it won’t help anyone, especially if the realm is in as bad of a condition as you described,” she said. “There will be casualties—many of them the half-bloods you’re trying to help. They won’t be of use to anyone if they’re dead.”
“But how else am I supposed to free them?” I asked. “The fae aren’t going to stand back as I free their slaves, and they’re certainly not going to lend us their portal tokens so I can whisk the half-bloods off to Avalon.”
“I never said they would. But you told us the Empress is ready to meet at the Crossroads, to discuss a deal so she can provide the cure to her people. And while I have my fair share of issues with the Empress after all you’ve told me about her, she doesn’t sound completely unreasonable.”
“But the Empress was in charge of binding the half-bloods in the first place,” I sputtered, shocked by what my mom seemed to be suggesting. “She’s not just going to—”
I paused mid-sentence, realizing my mom’s point. Sorcha desperately needed our help. And she was always open to deals. So why not try going the diplomatic route first?
If it worked, a huge number of lives would be saved.
If it didn’t, then I had the support of my mom and the Queen of Swords for whatever needed to come next.
“The half-bloods in the Sanctuary called you Queen Glori
ana returned.” My mom smiled, looking at me like she was seeing me in an entirely new light. “Do you feel this is true?”
“No,” I said. “But I am the Queen of Wands. I’m the only one who can free the half-bloods. As a half-blood myself, I’m their queen, and I’m not going to fail them.”
47
SELENA
JULIAN and his family passed Avalon’s trials, as I knew they would. My parents welcomed them like family and set them up in the castle with quarters fit for royalty.
Despite being soulmates, my parents insisted that Julian live with his family. Once I was eighteen, I could live with whomever I chose. Until then, I was to follow their rules.
As if that would stop Julian from teleporting into my room each night.
At dinner, we discovered that holy water neutralized Vita’s stomach condition. But the witches had already set to work on developing a more permanent solution. It was going to take time, but the holy water could hold her over while she waited.
The next day, Julian and I said goodbye to our families, and we teleported to the Crossroads. The shimmering pond, flowering bushes and trees, and colorful birds chirping all around reminded me of the Otherworld.
It was so pristine and tranquil that it was hard to imagine that for the past three months, this place had been a prison for my dad and Bella. Not even a single blade of grass looked like it had been trampled upon. And the grass made it clear where the Crossroads began, because inside the circle it was a darker, lusher shade of green that glimmered with magic.
There was no reason to wait for the full moon, since Julian and I could defend ourselves if Sorcha tried anything against us. There would also be no purpose in Sorcha trying anything against us. And if there was anything good I could say about the Empress, it was that she didn’t do anything without purpose.
“Ready?” Julian asked.
“Yes.” I stepped over the line in the grass. Inside the Crossroads, the sweet smell of honey wine lingered in the air.
During our many conversations in Vesta’s Villa, Bridget had taught me how the ancient fae who had lived on Earth had used the Crossroads as a peaceful meeting place between realms. The Crossroads inherently relied on blood magic to connect Earth to the Otherworld, but it was far easier for a fae to make the connection than for other supernatural creatures.
I kneeled down next to the lake. The water was so clear that I could see straight to the bottom. I cupped my hands together, dipped them into the water, brought them up to my mouth, and drank. The water was surprisingly sweet, like honey. I sipped it all down, and my head tingled, like I’d just drank an entire glass of wine.
“You okay?” Julian asked.
I blinked a few times, and the buzz subsided. “I’m good,” I said, and I stood up slowly, glad when the ground remained steady beneath my feet. Then I held my hand out toward Julian with my palm to the sky.
He pulled a small knife from the ether and pricked the pad of my index finger. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from grimacing. Pain was always worse when you knew it was coming, even if it was something as small as a pricked finger.
A drop of blood popped out in a bubble over my skin. I held my hand over the pond, turned it over, and squeezed my finger so three drops fell into the water.
Liquid taken from the Crossroads, and liquid given to it.
“I invite Empress Sorcha and one half-blood ambassador of her choosing to meet me, Selena Pearce, and my soulmate, Julian Kane, at the Crossroads of their own free will.”
For a moment, I worried it hadn’t worked.
Then the Empress and her half-blood advisor, Aeliana, shimmered into existence ahead of us. They stood on top of the water, like it was a clear sheet of ice.
Sorcha wore a long, white dress threaded with gold silk. Her blonde hair flowed freely down her back, and of course, her tall, sparkly crown sat on her head. Aeliana wore a gold dress threaded with silver, and she smiled slightly when her gray eyes met mine.
Sorcha’s diamond wings sparkled in the sunlight. She took a deep breath and looked around. “Ancient Ireland,” she said as she gazed past the Crossroads, out to the rolling green hills that spread out in every direction. “The Earthly reflection of the Otherworld. Or the Otherworld’s reflection of Earth. No one quite knows which came first.”
“What?” I asked, momentarily sidetracked from the reason why we were there.
“Surely you notice how similar this area looks to the Central Plainlands?”
“I do. But what do you mean that it’s a ‘reflection?’”
“Each supernatural realm reflects an area on Earth,” she explained. “There are slight differences, but think of it like two places occupying the same space, one layered on top of the other. The supernatural realms in one universe, and Earth in another.”
“So the supernatural realms are all on the same planet? A reflection planet of Earth?”
“That’s the simplest way to describe it,” she said. “However, our realms are all separated from one another, whereas you can travel freely between your countries and continents.”
I nodded as I worked through the implications of what she was saying. “How many other realms are there?” I asked.
“That’s a question that not even the fae have an answer to,” she said. “And it’s certainly of no importance now. Because I trust you called for me with a proposition in mind?”
“Yes.” I pulled the Holy Wand from the ether, and its crystals glowed blue. “Avalon is interested in an alliance with the Otherworld. We’ll help you rid your realm of the afflicted by supplying you with as much of the cure as we can, and by sending one-fourth of the Nephilim army to the Otherworld to slay the zombies until they’re gone. In return, you’ll allow me to free the half-bloods from bondage, and you’ll allow them to come to Earth if they please.”
“Why are you so interested in the half-bloods?” she asked.
“I’m a half-blood,” I said. “So is my soulmate.”
Julian’s face was a deadly mask of calm.
“You’re half-fae, half-witch, the chosen champion of Jupiter, and the Queen of Wands,” she said. “Julian is the chosen champion of Mars. Both of you have far more magic than a simple half-blood—even a freed one—could ever dream of.”
She sounded so convinced that I would have believed her—if I didn’t know better.
“You can drop the act,” I said.
Confusion passed over her face. “What act?”
“We know that free half-bloods have as much magic as full fae. You may have hid it from the rest of the Otherworld, but we know the truth.”
“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I opened my mouth to accuse her of lying. Then I shut it, since she couldn’t lie.
Sorcha turned to Aeliana. “Do you know what she speaks of?” she asked her advisor.
“The Queen of Wands speaks the truth,” Aeliana said simply. “I recommend listening to her.”
Excitement flooded my body, but I took a deep breath to squash it. Because this wasn’t over yet.
“Very well.” Sorcha was a master of hiding her emotions, so whatever she thought about what I’d just said remained hidden. “You say the half-bloods have as much magic as the fae. But half-bloods aren’t immortal. As far as I—and everyone else I know in the Otherworld—are aware, they only have a small bit of magic.”
“That may be what you believe,” I said. “But you’re the Empress. How is it possible that you don’t know the truth?”
“I might be the Empress, but I’m not all-knowing,” she said. “Between Queen Gloriana’s time and my own, most information about life during and before the First Queen’s reign was lost.”
“How could that happen?” I asked.
“It’s a long story, but the basics are this. After Queen Gloriana was murdered, her younger sister—Queen Norah—took the throne. Queen Norah invented the process of using royal fae blood to bind the half-bloods’ magic. She ruled
for centuries, and she hated the half-bloods, since a half-blood killed her sister. The half-bloods of her time lived in far worse conditions than the half-bloods do now.
“Queen Norah ruled until the start of the Century of Fifty Queens, when she was killed by the first of the fifty queens to seize power—Queen Brielle,” she continued. “But Queen Brielle didn’t maintain her power for long. She was killed by another usurper, that queen was killed by another, then she by another, and so forth. The Otherworld divided into multiple opposing factions. War raged throughout the realm. Most of our books were burned, and the majority of fae in the Otherworld were killed. Our society regressed thousands of years during that single century.”
“It sounds similar to Earth’s Dark Ages,” I said.
“Very similar,” she agreed. “The Dark Ages actually started when the fae on Earth were cursed by dark witches to be allergic to iron, and were forced to retreat back to the Otherworld. We returned to a realm that had been at war for a century. Our kind had nearly driven ourselves to extinction, and those still alive lived like barbarians. And so, with the support of the gods, I named myself the Empress and formed the Empire. The Otherworld would be a very different place if I hadn’t stepped in. It might not even exist at all. I shaped the Otherworld into the civil society it is today.”
“‘Civil’ isn’t a word I’d used to describe the Otherworld,” I said bitterly.
“Then you wouldn’t have wanted to see it during the Century of Fifty Queens.”
“Most definitely not,” I agreed. “But if you wanted to create a civil Empire, why keep the half-bloods in bondage?”
“Because the tattoos remind the half-bloods that one of their own murdered the First Queen, Gloriana. Her murder resulted in the downfall of the realm. The tattoos remind the half-bloods of their place in society, and that we can control what little magic they have.”
Electricity buzzed over my scars and up over the Holy Wand, and a breeze blew around me. “An entire race isn’t responsible for the actions of one person,” I said.
The Faerie Plague (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 5) Page 22
